“Journal of Artificial Intelligence Humanities” Research Ethics Regulations
Enacted on February 1, 2018
Amended August 14, 2019
Amended March 1, 2023
Chapter 1 General provisions
Article 1 (Objective) The purpose of this regulation is to promote the research ethics of the members of the Humanities Research Institute.
Article 2 (Committee) The Humanities Research Institute’s research ethics and related matters are handled by the Humanities Research Institute’s Research Ethics Committee.
Article 3 (Establishment) The Research Ethics Committee conforms to the bylaws of the Humanities Research Institute and is established separately.
Article 4 (Objective) The Research Ethics Committee is established to promote an honest research culture related to the presentations and articles produced and published in symposiums (including lectures) and academic journals under the Institute’s supervision.
Article 5 (Composition)The Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee is determined by mutual election in the Steering Planning Committee, and the members of the Research Ethics Committee are appointed by the Head of the Humanities Research Institute after being nominated by the Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee.
Article 6 (Functions)The Research Ethics Committee carries out the following functions. The Research Ethics Committee governs the establishment and operation of all regulations. The Research Ethics Committee receives information related to research ethics violations and swiftly processes this information according to regulations. The Research Ethics Committee regulates matters relating to the character and reputation of the whistleblowers and examinees. The Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee prepares the final investigation outcomes in writing and presents it to the Head. Ultimately enforces matters relating to the follow-up measures (judgment outcome).
Article 7 (Meetings and term of office) The Chairperson may convene meetings on research ethics issues at any time. The term of office of the Research Ethics Committee is two years, and it can be renewed.
Article 8 (Members’ duties) Even if all existing and new members have not individually signed the Research Ethics Committee’s regulations, they must comply with the regulations.
Chapter 2 Researcher Ethics and Ethics Training
Article 9 (Research originality) The articles prepared by researchers must be original and based on a faithful investigation of the research topic material.
Article 10 (Prohibition of duplicate submission) The article must not have been published or duplicated in other academic journals. Research theses that have been presented in other academic institutions, or duplicate submissions of partially amended research theses on a similar topic to the one submitted to another institution’s academic journal, are prohibited.
Article 11 (Prohibition of plagiarism) The researcher must be honest when writing their thesis to avoid suspicions of plagiarism. After fully reviewing the original bibliography of the chosen subject, the researcher must clearly cite the bibliography items in the body of the text and footnotes when quoting these references.
Article 12 (Declaration of authorship) Declaring lead authorship, joint-authorship, or second authorship without actually participating in a joint research thesis publication is prohibited.
Article 13 (Researcher’s obligations) The researcher must sincerely cooperate with the investigation requested by the Research Ethics Committee in cases where a thesis submitted to an academic journal has been noted to contain issues relating to duplicate publication, plagiarism, and authorship (e.g., receipt of unethical research funding).
Article 14 (Research ethics education) The Research Ethics Committee must conduct training on research ethics for the members of the Institute by means of lectures or symposiums at least once a year.
Article 15 (Submission of the written oath of research ethics regulations upon submission of thesis) Upon submission of the thesis, the Research Institute member must simultaneously turn in a written oath stating compliance with the Institute’s Research Ethics Regulations and bylaws.
Article 16 (Reflection of Bioethics and Gendered Innovations Guidelines)Manuscript submitted for publication in this journal involving human subjects must be approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) in accordance with the 「Bioethics and Safety Act」 and must comply with the guidelines recommended by the Gendered Innovations approaches (http://gister.re.kr/).
Chapter 3 Raising Complaints, Investigation, and Assessment
Article 17 (Establishment of the problem)
- Problems raised by the thesis investigator: The thesis investigator must thoroughly examine the submitted thesis content. In cases where the investigator identifies an ethical issue with the thesis, he or she must prepare a detailed description of the problem and report it to the Chief Editor. The Chief Editor must hold an editorial board meeting, and if it is judged that a problem exists, it must be reported to the Research Ethics Committee.
- Problems raised by an external informer: An external informer may bring up an ethical issue relating to a submitted thesis. In such cases, the external informer must explain the issue with the thesis by writing or address it to the Chair of the Research Ethics Committee in person. At this stage, personally identifying information of the thesis investigator or the external informer must not be disclosed.
Article 18 (Investigation) A thesis that is brought to the Research Ethics Committee due to ethical issues can be judged by the Research Ethics Committee itself. Opinions of a subject expert can be requested and referenced as required. The Research Ethics Committee must decide on the final disciplinary action based on the investigation results.
Article 19 (Incest) If the author of the thesis submitted to the Research Ethics Committee is closely acquainted with a member of the Research Ethics Committee or the Editorial Board on the basis of school and regional ties, the member in question will be excluded from the thesis investigation.
Article 20 (Assessment) If a thesis has been deemed to have ethical issues following the ethics investigation, the Research Ethics Committee will determine the disciplinary actions according to the clauses set forth in Chapter 4.
Chapter 4 Disciplinary Actions and Procedures
Article 21 (Plagiarism) Theses suspected of plagiarism are not published in this academic journal, irrespective of the investigation results. Even if the plagiarized thesis has been published in the current academic journal, it will be excluded from research achievements through the cancellation of the publication.
Article 22 (Plagiarized and duplicate publication) Same as Article 1.
Article 23 (Plagiarism and duplication in good faith) Where the thesis displays similarities to another academic’s thesis by chance, despite the intentions of the author, the Research Ethic Committee can request for amendments from the author. However, if the author refuses to supply the amendments, the thesis will not be published in the academic journal; moreover, it will also be prevented from being presented at academic conferences.
Article 24 (Types of disciplinary action) The conclusion of the Research Ethics Committee’s deliberation, if a thesis that has been published or presented in an academic conference has been deemed to have contravened the research ethics, the following disciplinary actions may be imposed.
- Disciplinary actions relating to theses
- Request of amendment
- Voluntary withdrawal
- Cancellation of publication
- Disciplinary actions relating to the violator of research ethics
- If it is deemed that the violation of research ethics is minor and unintentional, the Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee will issue a “warning” to the relevant person and report this to the Head.
- If it is deemed that the violation of research ethics is minor but intentional, the Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee will impose a “two-year ban on academic conference presentations” and a “two-year ban on submissions to academic journals,” and report this to the Head.
- If it is deemed that the violation of research ethics is serious and intentional, the Chairperson of the Research Ethics Committee will strip the individual of their membership of the academic institution as well as prohibit them from presenting in academic conferences and submitting to academic journals in perpetuity, and report this to the Head.
Article 25 (Implementation procedures for disciplinary actions) Disciplinary action decisions by the Research Ethics Committee must be reported to the Head in writing within one week, and the Head shall report this to the Planning Steering Committee which makes a final decision. If the Planning Steering Committee decides that the Research Ethics Committee’s conclusion is inappropriate, it can report such judgment to the Research Ethics Committee. With reference to such judgment, the Research Ethics Committee makes its decision by undertaking the disciplinary proceedings again. This time, the procedure ends after reporting to the Head; the same disciplinary decisions are not made.
Article 26 (Execution of disciplinary decisions) The Head informs the individual of the Research Ethics Committee’s final disciplinary decision in writing; if the publication of the thesis has been cancelled, only the title of the thesis and decision details are posted on the journal’s website. If “amendment of the thesis or its voluntary withdrawal” is not carried out within the specified time, the Head can take measures to forcibly “cancel the publication of the thesis” or the “the thesis presentation.”
Article 27 (Defense) The thesis author who is charged with violating the ethics regulations must be given the opportunity to sufficiently explain his or her position during the defense process.
Article 28 (Disciplinary action decisions) Disciplinary actions are decided through a two-thirds majority agreement of a two-thirds quorum of the Research Ethics Committee members. The decision details are reported by the Chairperson in writing within one week.
Article 29 (Duration of disciplinary actions)The thesis author who is subject to a disciplinary action under Article 1 and 2 of this document is restricted from presenting and submitting for the period specified by the disciplinary decision.
Article 30 (Notice) If the Research Ethics Committee’s disciplinary decision has been notified, matters other than the “revocation of publication” are kept confidential; however, they can be communicated upon the request of a public institution. However, the character and standing of the disciplined author must be respected in all instances.
Article 31 (Disciplinary action of a thesis in receipt of a research grant) If a thesis that has received a research grant receives a disciplinary decision by the Research Ethics Committee, the granting institution is notified of the disciplinary action regardless of whether a request was made by that institution.
Chapter 5 Amendment of Regulations and Matters Relating to Implementation
Article 32 (Amendment of regulations) This Research Ethics Regulations can be amended by the general assembly’s vote, if proposed by the Humanities Research Institute’s Research Ethics Committee.
Article 33 (Rules for operation) The evaluation standards designed to assess the ethical issues related to the research method and findings, and the matters relating to its operation, are decided by separate rules of operation.
Article 34 (Miscellaneous) Items not specified in these regulations are to be dealt with using commonly accepted practices.
Supplementary provisions
(Effective date) These regulations shall be effective from Vol. 1 of the “Journal of Artificial Intelligence Humanities” (published on April 30, 2018).
(Effective date) These regulations are applied and come into force from August 14, 2019.
(Effective date) These regulations are applied and come into force from March 1, 2023.